Oscars 2023: Keynote menu, goodie bag contents revealed

Fish and chips, trifles and Italian luxury tours for nominees at this year’s Academy Awards

What do people eat at the Oscars? Specifically, what’s cooking — in a literal sense — at the 95th Academy Awards?

A recent article in The Guardian has filled us in on the sheer culinary diversity (not much?) being served up at the official Oscars afterparty in LA on Sunday. The keynote menu, according to The Guardian, begins with a fish and chips cone, followed by miniaturized chicken pot pie and maraschino cherry-topped trifles for dessert. The markedly British (and meat-and-fat heavy) menu has been conceived by London-based chef Elliott Grover and commissioned by celebrity chef and restauranteur Wolfgang Puck.

“And, last night, Wolfgang also asked if we can do a Beef Wellington,” Grover told Country and Town House in an interview.

There are also several reports on the contents of the goodie bag – an Oscars tradition – handed out to the acting and directing nominees. Estimated at around $126,000, the bag includes a luxury getaway to an Italian island, free facelift at a New York clinic, and a plot of land in Australia. F&B products included in the swag bag range from Japanese milk bread and popcorn to expensive wine and tequila. There are also organic dates, silk pillowcases and – perhaps to shake off a night of drunken revelry – a shaman reading by author and coach Jo Bowlby.

The Oscars goodie bag is assembled by a marketing company called Distinctive Assets. The attendees, however, are under no obligation to accept, use or promote the various contents, reports The Guardian.

The 95th Academy Awards are taking place on March 12 at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. It will be telecast in India in the early hours of Monday, March 13.